2 fatal accidents hit Utah within an hour

A Ryder moving truck heading south on U.S. 89/91 veered into the northbound lane and crashed head-on into a Saturn and Audi.

WELLSVILLE, Cache County — Two people died in separate accidents on Utah roadways Monday.

A multi-car accident on the Cache County side of Sardine Canyon killed a 51-year-old Wellsville man just after 5 p.m., while an accident on Redwood Road an hour later in Taylorsville took the life of another man. Three people were hospitalized in critical condition from the two accidents.

The first accident occurred about 5:12 p.m. when a Ryder moving truck that was heading south on U.S. 89 near the mouth of Sardine Canyon crossed into the northbound lane and crashed head-on with a black Audi and a yellow Saturn that were travelling side-by-side, Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Lee Perry said. A fourth vehicle, a red Toyota Corolla, traveling behind the other two collided with the Saturn following the initial crash.

The Wellsville man, who was driving the Saturn, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Two 17-year-old boys were in the Audi and are listed in extremely critical condition. They were both transported to Logan Regional Hospital and then one was flown to McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden and the other to LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. Names of the victims had not been released by press time.

The second accident was called into dispatchers about 6:10 p.m. It claimed the life of the driver of a blue Dodge pickup truck that was turning left off of 6200 South onto Redwood Road when a gray pickup heading south T-boned the other truck, sending it spinning out of control into the south part of the intersection, Taylorsville police said.

The gray truck careened west and struck a building at the southwest corner of the intersection, said Taylorsville police detective Shannon Bennett.

Bennett said police are awaiting family notification before releasing information about the victims.

The passenger of the blue truck was taken to Intermountain Medical Center in critical condition, and the driver of the gray truck was transported in serious condition.

Bennett said he didn't know what caused the accident, how fast the trucks were traveling or if any of the victims were wearing seat belts.

All but one southbound lane were initially were closed after the accident, but the northbound lane on Redwood Road was later reopened, and drivers traveling south on Redwood were able to turn west onto 6200 South. East-west travel across the intersection was closed for the duration of the investigation, police said.

Bennett said a major accident team was called to assist with the investigation.

UHP troopers were continuing to investigate the Sardine Canyon crash at press time. The canyon has been the location of several previous fatal and injury accidents. Perry said the Utah Department of Transportation put up concrete barriers in the more dangerous parts of the winding four-laned road in recent years.

"There's about three places in Sardine Canyon with curvy areas where we've had problems in the past," Perry said. "This crash occurred in a straightaway about one-fourth of a mile north of one of the barriers."